Devices of this type are known from the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,807 discloses an example embodiment of an instrument panel for a motor vehicle wherein the respective values of various measured physical variables are indicated. One of the known concerns in this field is tackled in this American Patent, namely the space requirement of the devices used, in particular for achieving the simultaneous display of the respective values of a plurality of measured physical variables. Indeed, these devices have a non-negligible minimum space requirement if a certain degree of legibility is to be maintained for the information displayed.
Thus, the aforecited American Patent proposes an instrument panel structure that limits the space requirement of its constituent elements.
However, technical progress made in the motor vehicle industry over the last few years has pushed designers to further enrich the information displayed on the instrument panel.
Consequently, the number of constituent elements of the display devices also increases, in particular when the display of the measured physical variables is achieved in an analogue manner. In this case, electric motors have to be used, one motor generally having to be provided for each physical variable that has to be displayed. Further, an increasing number of electronic components are integrated in these instrument panels to carry out various calculations or to fulfil various display functions. The electric motors and the electronic components are typically mounted on a printed circuit board, whereas the electric motors are surmounted by a dial bearing indications or scales relating to the measured physical variables.
In order to achieve a reasonable overall space requirement for an instrument panel of this type, the designer is forced to find a compromise between the amount of information displayed on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the dimensions of the printed circuit board (PCB) carrying the constituent elements of the instrument panel, and the distance from the PCB to the dial mounted on the electric motors.